Killing Civilians Is the Army's Job?

I am against war. I have made this clear before. Others may see glory and honor, I see only broken, bloodied bodies and the pain and grief of the survivors. Perhaps war is inevitable, but I think people in power have more to gain from guns and bombs than words and more words. I understand that it is unavoidable, sometimes, that civilians will die during a war. I assumed that most people would want to avoid the deaths of noncombatants, of old men and pregnant women and children. Well, you know what they say about assuming . . .

According to Barabara, the US military is contemplating a medal for "courageous restraint", i.e., holding fire to save civilian lives. This isn't precisely true. (Nothing Barabara writes is precisely true.) Certain NATO commanders have suggested that we need to do something to cut down on civilian casualties in Afghanistan, while at the same time clearly stating that they don't want NATO or US troops to risk their lives, either.

Well, how dare they!

Are we becoming the stupidest country in the world? What can terrorists be thinking when they read this nonsense?

The emasculation/feminizing of our culture continues apace. What next: Little League trophies for purposely taking a walk to first base?

I imagine the terrorists are thinking that's it's going to be a little harder to recruit if we become the good guys. Just a thought. Beyond that, if we make policy based on what terrorists will think, they really have won. Seriously, we should emulate al Queda's tactics and make the world unsafe for everyone? Maybe the writer hasn't noticed, but what we call a war zone is what the Afghanis call home.

She ends with this gem of a prayer:

Please dear Lord, can we vote these wusses out of power so we can let the military do what they are supposed to do?

Killing civilians: what the military is supposed to be doing. Nice.

The Taliban in Their Own Words

afghanistan, taliban, war,
Newsweek's oral history of the Taliban is a fascinating read, interweaving short stories from several Afghanis discussing how they ended up joining the Taliban and fighting us. They were not the stories I expected them to be. Were the circumstances reversed, I wonder how many of us would be mujahadeen.

Two days before the September 11 attacks on America, we were all celebrating the death of [Northern Alliance commanderAhmed Shah] Masood, [who was assassinated by Qaeda agents posing as television reporters]. His forces were already on the verge of defeat, so his death all but assured us of total victory in Afghanistan. But the September 11 attacks turned our cheer into deep concern. We gave those camels [a derogatory Afghan term for Arabs] free run of our country, and they brought us face to face with disaster. We knew the Americans would attack us in revenge.

Realizing the danger, I immediately sent my wife and children to Pakistan. The entire government started to fall apart. I never thought the Taliban would collapse so quickly and cruelly under U.S. bombs. Everyone began trying to save themselves and their families. When the bombing began, I changed out of my usual white mullah's garb, put on an old brown shalwar kameez, and headed for Pakistan. I crossed the mountains on foot, and at the top I turned around and said: "God bless you, Afghanistan. I'll never come back to you under our Islamic regime."

Just a note: we might consider everyone from a vast area in Eurasia to be Arab, but Afghanis do not consider themselves to be Arabs, and neither do Iranians, for that matter.

Random Notes

war, iraq, afghanistan, soldiers, ptsd, brain, injuries, torquemada, gay, marriage, tradition, traditional, homosexual, homophobia, dalai lama
When I was very little, and my older sister was ignoring me (which she frequently was), I would play this game where I would poke her, gently, until she exploded. (You know how kids are.)

I mention this because if you do anything to someone often enough, poke them, call them names, lie about them, push to legislate them into permanent second class citizens, they will eventually explode. Everyone on earth will explode in this situation, no matter how calm and good natured they are. I imagine, if you did it long enough, you could poke the Dalai Lama* into exploding. (At least a month of poking 24 hours a day. That man is calm. And happy. I like the Dalai Lama.)

Angie seems not to have figured this out yet. Perhaps she is calmer than the Dalai Lama, which I doubt, or perhaps she judges the gay community just a touch more harshly than herself. You decide.

It can be daunting and intimidating to face such a virulent, violent rage that is at the core of the homosexual movement.

You know what, Angie? I'll be happy to explain this to you. Come over here where I can poke you.

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I truly hate the use of violent words and metaphors to describe what are, or should be, nonviolent events.

Volly brought up an excellent example of this in a comment:

Back in my Christian days, I took a course at church called "Becoming a Contagious Christian." The companion book had the same title. At least twice in the book and during the lectures, the author and the class leader used the expression "Hold their feet to the fire." I didn't finish the course because of that. All I could think of was Torquemada. He was pretty "contagious" too, from what I've heard.

How couldn't you think of Torquemada when hearing that? I also hate references to "war", "battle" and "revolution" that have been flying about the interwebz lately. The US is currently involved in two real life wars (or conflicts, or whatever we're calling them these days): Afghanistan and Iraq. Real life soldiers, brave men and women all, are dying. Real people are coming home without arms or legs, coming home with brain injuries and PTSD. Real people are suffering horribly, and that's not to mention the Afghanis and Iraqis that are suffering horribly.

To compare your attempts to deny same sex marriage, or your unhappiness that the GOP is no longer in charge, with what is going on in Afghanistan and Iraq right now is comtemptable. You're not in a war. You're at no risk of dying or losing a leg or not being able to write your name. Give it up.

*The Dalai Lama has his own website! Squeeee!!